An urgent USPCA intervention has prompted a stay of execution for an suspected pitbull puppy at the hands of Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC).
Five month old Max, a stray found in Dundonald, was due to be put to sleep after council dog wardens deemed he was a pitbull type dog and should be scheduled to be put down under Breed Specific Legislation (BSL).
However, elected members unanimously agreed to an independent breed assessment on Wednesday (Dec 17) in the “season of goodwill”, along with a plea for the dog’s owners to come forward.
Castlereagh East Alderman Sharon Skillen (DUP) said:
“A lot in this chamber will be aware I am an animal lover and like many of you, got emails about Max the dog. I would like a reassurance the Max will not be put to sleep.
“There was an email from the USPCA about third party assessment, which will include the age of Max and whether he should be assessed at that age and a range of other issues. I would urge the council, in a season of goodwill, if we could find a resolution for Max the dog.
“I understand the council is in a difficult position where we are enforcing the BSL legislation, which I personally don’t like the legislation at all.
“Our officers are between a rock and a hard place, and I sympathise with that, but I would ask for a third party assessment of Max, that would be great.”
The chamber heard an emotive social media response to Max had been “significant” with council officers coming “under fire” from “misplaced” abuse.
Wearing a Christmas jumper with an image of a bulldog in a festive hat, Lisburn North UUP rep, Nicholas Trimble added:
“It is an incredibly emotive issue and rightly so. People with dogs love their dogs and anyone who knows me knows I love my dogs.
“It is understandable that there has been a lot of high emotions about this. I think that what Alderman Skillen is asking for is reasonable for the most part.”
He added:
“We’ve all received an email from the USPCA that has called in to question the breed of Max the dog and I do think we need to be absolutely robust.
“The pitbull terrier, I’m not sure of the correct terminology, is a proscribed breed and as such there is a law that would tie our hands otherwise, whether we like the legislation or not it is there from a public safety point of view.
“If it is indeed the breed we will haver to do what needs to be done. So, I think it is worthwhile that we verify that. In the highly emotive discussion on this online our officers have come under fire and I think that is very misplaced. They have acted blamelessly and they have done their job as they should have. I want to commend them thoroughly it is not an easy job to do.”
Council CEO David Burns responded:
“There has been significant interest in this case. I just want to provide assurance that the dog is in a safe place and there is no immediate decision being made with regards to the future of the dog.
“We are ever mindful of the public commentary and we are considering steps forward and we will look at that third party assessment. In the meantime the most crucial thing is to identify the owner and we would really like them to come forward so we can engage with them and get the dog back to its rightful place.”